St Kilda’s recruiting team has opened its doors to saints.com.au with incredible access ahead of next week’s NAB AFL Draft.

The Saints full-time recruiting team of Ameet Bains, Tony Elshaug, Mark Smart, Chris Toce and Chris Liberatore this week met with coach Alan Richardson, General Manager Football Performance Jamie Cox, Football Services Manager Luke O’Brien and board member Dean Anderson to give an outline to the club’s plans for the draft.

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Elshaug, the club’s Recruiting & List Manager, led the discussions as the Saints fine-tune their plans ahead of the draft, which will be held in Adelaide.

“I guess we met seven or eight weeks ago probably after the championships and had a good talk about things in the middle of the year. That was good and hopefully that gave you a fair insight to where we were at that particular point,” Elshaug said to the group.

“It is not an exact science but hopefully with the work everyone has done in the team with Libba, Smarty, Chris and Ameet as well as all the part-time scouts we have around the country we have been able to pull it together as best as we possibly can.”

It is a different looking draft position for the Saints, who had the first selection in last year’s draft and three of the first 22 picks.

But the club is in a strong position after the trade period, by maintaining a vital first-round selection at pick 14. The Saints also have picks 45 and 68.

Elshaug outlined the club’s strategy with its draft position.

“We go to the draft with three picks at the top, in the middle and down the back with a couple of good young rookies hopefully coming through the door as well. It is a pretty even draft so it will be very interesting on the night,” he said.

“It is a different draft with bidding for the academy players in the north and the father-sons. There is a lot that is going to be thrown up that has never been thrown up before.”

Bains said the meeting, held six days before the draft, presented the recruiting team with the chance to open up their thoughts and observations while inviting input from those from a different perspective.

“It is an opportunity for the list management group and Richo as well to challenge some of the thinking regarding the draft and the types of players we’re talking about compared to the trade period where from a list management perspective you can target specific players,” Bains said.

“A draft, by its very nature, means you are unsure about the players you are going to bring through the door until the night. Your strategy encompasses the draft as well as the trade period.”

The Saints had a strong trade period, landing speedy midfielder Nathan Freeman and key defender Jake Carlisle. Bains said the club’s draft approach took into account the recruits it had already landed.

“You certainly go into the draft looking at what you’ve already brought in and seeking to complement that,” he said.

“With our first pick in the draft you look to go best available but as the draft evolves and considering our later picks are in the third and fourth rounds, there is a greater capacity to complement the players we have already brought in.”